Once a bustling port city, Liverpool has seen an influx of refugees arriving by boat over the past few years.
According to a report by Daily Express, with asylum seeker numbers rising, many are left sleeping on the streets as they wait for their claims to be processed.
“There’s just too many coming in now,” said John Walsh, a Liverpool resident. “The system can’t cope. You see them everywhere, huddled in doorways or begging on the streets.”
The government has attempted to alleviate pressure on local infrastructure by housing refugees in hotels and disused military barracks. However, tensions have flared in these temporary accommodations.
In February, a riot broke out at the Suites Hotel housing asylum seekers after far-right groups stirred up anti-refugee sentiments. “They are all pretty intimidated, which was the whole point of it,” said refugee aid volunteer Clare Moseley. “All of them just kept saying to me: ‘Can you get us moved?'”
The Home Office also planned to dock decommissioned cruise ships in Liverpool and Teesport to house over 1,000 refugees. But both locations refused permission after local protests. The vessels had to be sent back after failing to find anywhere to dock.
Asylum seekers themselves complain that the UK does little to help them build a life.
“This is no good for asylum,” said 17-year-old Omar, who fled violence in Iraq a year ago. “I want to work, study, make friends. But they just leave us sitting here with nothing.”
The UK receives far fewer asylum applications than EU countries like Germany, France and Spain. But years of funding cuts under Conservative governments have left local councils struggling to provide housing, healthcare and school places.
Keith Jackson, a Liverpool charity worker, warns that the crisis will only deepen without long term solutions.
“Where are these people going to live, how will they support themselves? The government needs to invest in communities, not just warehouse refugees in camps.”
As boats continue arriving, Liverpool remains overstretched. A powder keg of tensions still simmers between residents, far-right agitators, and refugees dreaming of the security denied to them back home.
For now, the city resigns itself to scores of asylum seekers sleeping on its streets, awaiting refuge in a country some no longer view as a sanctuary.
Send em back on the boats they came over in simple
We are over run with the so called aysylum seekers,they should seek asylum in first port of call or go see Gary Lynackre
Send the lot back. Full stop. Blame sunak for this. He is allowing this on the uk for revenge.
Give them their wishes and send them back. If these charity workers are that bothered let them put them up in their houses. How do you tell who is a terrorist or a paedophile.